A Yate man has been imprisoned for 54 weeks and disqualified from driving for 11 months after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted him for multiple waste offences including breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).
Tom Pleass, 31, of Cherington in Yate appeared at Bristol Crown Court on 4 July where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping, breaching a CBO previously handed to him for waste offences, not having a scrap metal licence or waste transfer notes and failing to respond to an interview request. He was sentenced to 54 weeks imprisonment (38 weeks for the new offences plus 16 weeks in respect to the previous suspended prison sentence he was given) and disqualified from driving for 11 months. The Judge was unimpressed with Pleass offending as soon as he left court previously and as such the sentence he imposed was for deliberately and persistently ignoring the CBO.
The court heard that on 30 October 2023 Pleass was convicted of multiple fly-tips and other environmental offences. On that occasion he was given a 36 week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and a CBO prohibiting him from being involved in the storing, transferring, treating or disposing of waste.
However, Pleass continued to engage in illegal waste activities. Between his October court date and 14 November, South Gloucestershire Council’s environmental enforcement officers visited Pleass’ home area and observed his lorry parked a short distance from his address on four separate occasions, with different waste loaded upon it. On 15 November 2023 Pleass was stopped by the police whilst driving his vehicle loaded with waste at Arnos Vale in Bristol. Pleass initially gave his details as ‘Jake Ellis’ with a fake date of birth, however following further checks and questioning he eventually provided his correct details. On Wednesday 10 January 2024 local residents reported that Pleass was continuing to use his lorry and that it was regularly parked near his home address with waste on it. Council officers again started to visit the area and observed waste on his vehicle on three further separate occasions between 17 and 22 January.
On Monday 22 January 2024 a council officer observed Pleass drive into Perrenpit Lane, Frampton Cotterell in his lorry and a few minutes later parked in the premises of CMR Ltd (Scrap Metal dealers) standing near the waste laden vehicle. The waste was the same that had been observed on the lorry whilst parked at his home.
The officer approached Pleass to inform him that he was carrying waste on his vehicle that a court order prohibited, and he was cautioned. Pleass stated that he had just traded some metal in and that the rest was his mother’s waste that he had collected that very morning. Pleass then claimed that his Probation Officer had told him that there was no order. It was pointed out that it had been made clear to Pleass that he could have nothing more to do with waste and the order from the court superseded anything else he may have been told. Pleass refused to state his mother’s address or the time he allegedly collected the waste from her home. He continued to claim that his Probation Officer had told him that there was no court order and also claimed that he had received legal advice that he could still collect scrap metal. He was informed that he would be invited to attend a formal interview.
As a result of this incident, further enquiries were made and it was established that Pleass had taken scrap metal to CMR Ltd a total of 12 times between 14 November 2023 and 22 January 2024. It was also established that South Gloucestershire Council has never issued Pleass a Scrap Metal Collectors Licence.
An Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system request for Pleass’ vehicle showed that in the 55 day period between 22 November 2023 and 15 January 2024 his lorry was captured on camera a total of 66 times. On six separate occasions waste could clearly be seen on the rear of his vehicle. Further visits to Pleass’ home during January and February found his vehicle again parked up, loaded with waste. He was also observed driving the lorry loaded with waste on several occasions.
Pleass was interviewed under caution on 23 February 2024 and made no comment to all questions put to him. Pleass was served a Section 108 Notice requiring him to attend a further interview on 16 May 2024 and a Notice requiring him to produce Waste Transfer Notes for waste that had been transported by him. On the morning of Wednesday 15 May his solicitors informed the council that Pleass was on holiday and would not return until 24 May 2024. Pleass was served another Section 108 Notice requiring him to attend an interview on 28 May 2024, however at 7am on the morning of the interview Pleass texted to say he was unable to attend as he was in court. He failed to inform his solicitors who did attend and were unaware of any court appearance by Pleass.
It was also discovered that Pleass was paid to remove waste from a Bristol address on 21 April 2024 that was later found fly-tipped in New Tyning Lane, Little Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.
Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “This is a great result for the council against one of our area’s most prolific offenders. We will not tolerate illegal waste activity in South Gloucestershire and we want to send the clear message that anyone found flouting the law will be brought before the courts.
“Pleass is a serial fly-tipper and estimates of his offending, not disputed by him, indicate that during the pandemic period alone he committed some 200 offences. Whilst others were following the restrictions at that time he was intent on committing offences and profiting from the situation.
“Our advice to residents is to be wary of businesses or people advertising waste clearances on social media sites such as Facebook. There are a number of legitimate options for waste removal, including the council’s large household waste collection service. If you hire a third-party to dispose of your waste, always ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken.
“Prosecutions like these protect our environment and create cleaner and safer places for our communities. These are key priorities of the Liberal Democrat/ Labour partnership.”
Residents and businesses are advised to only give their rubbish to an Environment Agency registered waste carrier.
You can carry out these simple steps to make sure your waste is disposed of legally:
- Ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Legitimate firms will be happy to provide this information.
- Do not be tempted to use people offering cheap waste clearance on sites such as Facebook and Gumtree unless you have confirmed that they are registered with the Environment Agency
- Check whether the waste carrier is registered by calling the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 or by checking on their website https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers
- Ask for a registered trading address and contact telephone number for the trader and get a receipt.
Household waste can be taken to the council’s Sort It recycling centres where it can be disposed of at no cost www.southglos.gov.uk/sortitcentres
Residents who see illegal fly-tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting the council’s StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping
